The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has launched a digital system to verify the authenticity of tax-return submissions and expedite service delivery by the authorities concerned.
Its income-tax wing officially opened up the 'tax return verification module' on August 21 last, officials said.
Anyone from across the country can verify the authenticity of the return submission by inserting Taxpayers Identification Number (TIN) in the module, available on the NBR's website.
In the current fiscal year budget, the government has made mandatory the submission of proof of tax return for getting around 40 types of services in both government and private entities.
The entities will have to verify the tax return slip before providing services, as per Income Tax Ordinance-1984.
In case of detection of a fake tax return slip by taxmen, the service-providing entities may have to face a penalty of Tk 1.0 million.
However, many of the service providers found it difficult, after the provision was passed through the Finance Act-2022, to verify the tax return slip as they had no access to the NBR's taxpayers' database, which is confidential as per the income tax law.
Addressing the difficulties, an NBR team developed the return verification module in a customized manner where an authentication slip would be generated, verifying return submission rather than disclosing other information, officials said.
The privacy of taxpayers' information would not be affected in the verification process, they added.
Mohammad Jahid Hassan, NBR member (tax information, management and services), said around 4,000 people are verifying their tax returns every day using the app.
Use of the module would go up soon as the deadline for submission of returns by individual taxpayers is approaching, he said.
The time for submission of tax returns by individual taxpayers started on July 1 and is scheduled to end on November 30, 2022.
Mr Rahman said the taxpayers can take a printout of the verification slip on their own to show the service providing authority.
He said at least 1.0 million people would need the services of this module.
Tax return slip is mandatory for obtaining different services like opening and continuing bank accounts, and utility connections.
Earlier, the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) had proposed the government to reconsider the fiscal measure on mandatory submission of tax return slips. They sought gradual implementation of such measures to get familiar with it.
Bankers said relatives of remittance earners living in the country's rural areas would face problems withdrawing cash or operating bank accounts as they have to obtain a tax return slip from tax offices after submitting tax returns.
Tax experts said the revenue board needs to strengthen its help or service centres to support the taxpayers as millions of new taxpayers would have to submit returns in the current fiscal year.
In the last FY, a total of 2.4 million individual taxpayers submitted their tax returns out of more than 7.0 million TIN holders.
Earlier, only the TIN was mandatory for obtaining different services. People could use a TIN for years after obtaining it once from the tax offices.
From now on, the tax return slip needs to be obtained every year after submission of the returns.
